The Foreign Service Journal, January 2003

DGs were quick studies, but oth- ers weren’t. We have had DGs with two or three years of Foreign Service experience and others who literally didn’t even have a passport when they were appointed. Yet virtually every DG has instituted new programs, very few of which survive his or her departure. (At one point we were changing logos and names on an annual basis.) So perhaps this is yet another reason FCSOs are unique within the foreign affairs community Private vs. Public Then there is the private sector. When the Department of Commerce first advertised in the Wall Street Journal over 20 years ago for FCSOs, it described the duties as similar to those performed by the country manager for a multi- national corporation. In fact, many of the commercial officers that joined the FCS in the 1980s were former country managers for Fortune 500 companies, where they had been responsible for the profitable use of fiscal and human resources. Adjunct to that responsibility is the authority to manage available resources to position the compa- ny and its products in the local market. FCSOs do all that, not just for one company but for all that ask for assistance. But there are several significant differences. While private-sector managers have some ability to select and reward their workforce, in most cases, an FCSO must work with FSNs hired by his or her predecessor and depend on embassy awards panels or selection boards F O C U S 32 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / J A N U A R Y 2 0 0 3 It may take years of negotiations to win a major power project, but when the concrete is poured, there can be no doubt that the deal was closed.